The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
For organizations operating in today's economy, dominating the increasingly dynamic business landscape has never been more difficult. A dispersed and mobile workforce is making it difficult for companies to conduct face-to-face meetings and even video/conference calls where insights are traditionally discovered, shared, discussed, and applied to improve business. Modern businesses can not afford to wait for the next quarterly all-hands meeting to spot a new competitor, product, issue, market opportunity, or customer attrition trend. Instead, businesses need to be able to spot trends, patterns, and anomalies in real-time—and then collaborate across a geographically dispersed team to drive a business decision.
Traditional techniques to engage a geographically dispersed team are too rigid, time-consuming, and cumbersome to use. A combination of macro-market forces is creating a new set of challenges for business people within organizations of all sizes. These challenges are making it imperative to provide greater access to real-time data and insights—even as team members become increasingly dispersed across different offices in different parts of the world.
Therefore, there is a need for improved systems and techniques for a cloud-based, real-time collaboration platform that lets users instantly share valuable information without leaving the system they use everyday.